As the vote to close Youngsville High School and move the grade nine to 12 Sheffield students, it is evident that the district has not thought this plan all the way through on many of the aspects that pertain to this ill-fated plan.

One of the biggest areas of question is over the transportation of and its effects on the Youngsville students to Eisenhower. There are several problems with what the district is proposing and claiming when it comes to this matter. None of which seem to bother the district with their lack of answers and false claims on the matter.

One of the biggest problems is that the district is claiming that it only takes 21 minutes to go from Youngsville Elementary to Eisenhower. According to Google, this would be 25 minutes going over Brown Hill and 27 minutes taking a different route over Miller Hill. Both of these routes would be extremely ill advised during the winter time in Warren County.

Even Mathew’s Run and Jackson Run roads get extremely bad and dangerous in the winter. I travel this route everyday. Even with tires that are in great condition on an all-wheel drive Subaru, I end up sliding when trying to turn from Mathew’s Run onto Jackson Run. Imagine this happening on an almost daily basis while on a bus in the middle of winter. Just recently on an extremely bad morning, it took me 24 minutes to go from my driveway on Old Pittsfield Road to Big Tree Road in Sugar Grove.

On that morning, it would have taken me approximately seven minutes to reach Youngsville Elementary. This means that the trip from the Youngsville Elementary would have taken 17 minutes to Big Tree Road in Sugar Grove, leaving only four minutes to reach Eisenhower. There is no way that would have been possible.

We have even had a few bus drivers comment that it takes them 30 minutes by bus to make this trip. I would suggest that the Board members and other employees of the district board a bus and make this trip themselves during the current weather situation or at least on a day that it is snowing.

There is no way that the combined bus ride for many students will be less than an hour. Another aspect of the transportation that is concerning is the fact that the district has not included the experts on this matter or included them on what will be expected of them until just recently. I am referring to the transportation companies that will be handling these routes. These companies have not been included in planning out the routes and what is expected of them as far as how many buses, vans, and drivers will be needed for this plan.

We are well less than a year away from this needing to be done. How quickly do you think that the transportation companies will be able to purchase the extra vans and buses that will be required for this plan? I believe that it takes about a year to receive a bus after it has been ordered. Is the district expecting the transportation companies to pull the extra vehicles out of the fields that they were parked in after they became too costly to keep repairing? This also brings up the extra costs associated with these vehicles for the transportation companies. It’s not like the district is going to reimburse the companies for any of the repairs or maintenance of these extra vehicles.

What about the extra staffing that the bus companies will need to maintain this bigger fleet? What about finding drivers willing to take on these runs? This is already difficult for the transportation companies and will only be worse with this plan. Some of these drivers have second jobs to make ends meet. These drivers will not be available to handle the extra runs and the extra time that it will take. Are the Board members or employees of the district going to step up and help with these runs?

In closing, what the district is proposing when it comes to the transportation of the Youngsville students, is fraught with problems and claims that just can’t be upheld. The trip is not possible in 21 minutes by bus. There will be hardship on the transportation companies with finding enough drivers that will put up with the extra running, and with the purchase of the extra vehicles in such short notice to even attempt this plan.

The district simply just doesn’t seem to care as to what this will cost the transportation companies or that the students will be on buses for an extended period of time cutting into their days. Nor does it seem to care that research has shown that extended bus rides affects the students ability to learn and what this will do to the already lower than the national average test scores coming out of the district, which is another issue for discussion some other time.

Hal Dunkle is a Pittsfield resident.